Ladies Love Country Boys
by Kaliebag
Summary: Bella and her family are visiting the Cullens. Bella hates Edward. She hated the skinny, weak, pubescent him. Does she hate the hot Edward? I think not. BXE. All Human, normal pairings except for maybe Emmett and Rosalie.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The Incredible Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. **

**First of all, I want to thank everyone who clicked on the link for my 7th story. This coming from the author of such stories as "Unexpected Showers," "Boarding School Flick," and "Worst Enemies." Betafish, this one's for you.**

(Bella's POV)

I sat in the car, fanning myself, and staring out the window at the endless fields of golden-brownish wheat, weeds, grass, and hills passed by.

As much as I liked to get away form my ex-boyfriend, car rides were a pain. Especially since the airport was about three hours drive from the place we were going.

So, I sat in the car, in the backseat, listening to my iPod because my parents were listening to whatever old people listen to. Maybe the Beatles or something. Hopefully, they wouldn't park the car on the shoulder and get out and start dancing. That could get embarrassing. I had nothing to do, seeing as our luggage was in the trunk, so I started thinking.

Dangerous of me, since thinking could lead to accident, if I'm walking towards the Grand Canyon. That one landed me in the hospital for a week.

So, I started thinking about Mike, my in-bred ex-boyfriend who stalks me every chance he gets. He was cute while he lasted, but I broke up with him. I had developed a massive crush on Jacob Black, and I wanted to let him see I was available. But, alas, my heart was broken as I watched him pine after a girl named Ashley and ask her out at lunch. By then, I had matured-ish enough to realize that Mike actually creeped me out. So, I stayed single.

I was done thinking. Almost. I had to look at the clock. Only five minutes. I groaned in frustration when I glanced at the clock. Renee looked back at me, frowned and went straight back to sleep. My brother, Stephan, was snoring in his seat.

Great.

The ONE time I actually WANT to fight, just to do something, he's sleeping.

We were going to visit Charlie and Renee's old and dear and old friends, retired DR. Carlisle and Esme Cullen; and their kids, Alice, Emmett, and, I mentally shuddered, _Edward._

I hated Edward. He was too skinny and too weak and had a pubescent, squeaky voice that made me cringe. Plus, he was too dang smart for his own good.

They lived out in the country, as narrated, and the shortest way to their house was three hours from the airport. They had to live all the way in freaking Texas. We lived in Florida. It had been about four years since we last saw them. I was in eighth grade, and so was Edward. Stephan was in sixth. I couldn't see why Stephan adored Edward. He was annoying and obnoxious and mean. He had all these snarky little comments to whatever I said.

He obviously hated me, for whatever reason I couldn't see, and so, being the immature teenager that I am, I hated him back. I begged my parents not to let me go out to Texas with them. I wanted to stay in Miami with Rose and Jessica and Angela. But, as usual, my parents won the argument by telling me I would be able to see Alice. Alice was my favorite person out of all the Cullens. She was bouncy and energetic, and took me as one of her best friends immediately the first time she saw me.

We got there a few hours later, after some yelling, and milkshakes, and throwing up on the side of the road.

We drove up their mile-long dirt driveway and made our way to the front of a huge, white mansion. I didn't stop to look at it and gasp in awe. I had already seen it. Esme, in all her glory, made her way down the stairs to greet us. Cowboy style, of course. She was wearing a floor length dress and some cowboy boots, and a t-shirt that said, "Kiss the Cook," but other than that, she looked great.

Renee smiled and spread her arms out wide and said, "Long time no see, Esme! I missed you!!!"

And then the old ladies greeted each other old-lady fashion with hugs and kisses, and fake "You look great!"s.

Carlisle, by then, had arrived at the scene, in his normal clothes, flannel and jeans. He was pretty hot for an old guy. You know, kind of like George Clooney. Charlie and Carlisle greeted each other old-man style with handshakes and offers to bring the bags in.

I yawned. This stuff was so boring. _Where the heck is Alice?_ I thought, dragging my suitcase up the stairs. Stephan soon followed. Esme caught up to me and said, "Let me show you to your room."

We all had our own rooms in the Cullen house. Esme had designed a room especially for me, and it was all white and blue and oceany and awesome. Despite her bounciness, Esme had great taste when she knew the person's personality.

"Where's Alice?" I asked, knowing already that she was at a friend's house.

"She's at Jasper's." Esme replied, releasing every detail about him that she knew and that Alice had told her.

By the end, I was finished unpacking and knew that Jasper wore tighty-whities sometimes and he was blond and had blue eyes and practically all his personal secrets that I would mentally block out for the rest of my life.

Esme left to go see to dinner, and Emmett came jumping in soon after.

"Bella!" he cried, gathering me in his arms and swinging me around.

"Uh, Em, I'm gonna barf all over you if that's okay."

He put me down.

"So, Bells, what's new?"

I flopped on my bed, taking my shoes off.

"Oh, nothing much. I broke up with my in-bred boyfriend, lusted after a guy who goes out with Ashley, and plenty of other things."

"Well, you're gonna have new things to top 'plenty of other things' by the time you go back to Miami."

"What do you mean?"

"Milking cows, lusting after Edward, helping me stack hay, shopping with Alice..."

I held up my hand to stop him.

"First of all, Em, I do NOT lust after Edward. That's just gross. Second of all, how are milking cows, helping you stack hay, and shopping with Alice 'new things'?"

"We got a new cow, ordered more hay, and Alice discovered new designer brands."

"...Crap."

He smirked at me and got up to go.

"Hey Bells, dinner's in ten minutes, so go get ready, 'kay?"

I nodded.

I stood up and went to the bathroom to wash my face and comb my hair. I wasn't really one for staring at myself in the mirror, but this time I did. I looked pretty good for a Junior.

I slid down the banister and into the foyer, ran into the dining room, and seated myself at my place. The dining room was next to the back door, and we could see into the backyard. Everyone else was seated, except Edward and Alice. I didn't really want to know where Edward was, so I ravished the time without him. Soon, I heard the mower, and I looked out. There, I saw the most gorgeous body I'd ever seen, better than Jacob's. The body's head was wearing a black cowboy hat over glossy, bronze waves.

I felt myself drool a little bit.

I slurped it back in and swallowed. I stared some more. _Six-pack, shirtless, no man boobs..._I felt myself mentally listing all the things that I liked. He was wearing jeans and straddling the thing. I watched as he turned it off and slipped on a flannel shirt.

_Mental note,_ I told myself, _steal shirt._

He walked in through the back door and took his hat off. _Chiseled face... _He turned and and walked to the kitchen. _I've seen those green eyes somewhere..._

"Edward," Esme called, "Get in here and eat your dinner!!"

I almost choked.

_EDWARD???_

**Okay, peeps, let me know if you want me to continue. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The Incredible Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. **

**Okay, thanks to all the reviewers who...reviewed...and told me that I should DEFINITELY continue, I'm continuing. Okay, I'm a city girl by heart, so I'm gonna need some help from people with experience. All I know is that they live on a country and that Bella will DEFINITELY be lusting after Edward.**

(Bella's POV)

"Edward?" I choked out. _This man cannot be Edward. Edward is skinny, weak, and mean._

He turned towards me, grinned, and tipped an imaginary cowboy hat.

"In the flesh, sweetheart." The southern twang in his voice made me want to melt.

_Definitely not Edward. _

I turned back towards my dinner, not wanting to eat it. I hated myself for looking at him the way I did.

_Ravishing. _I mentally slapped at the little voice in the back of my head.

I didn't think of Edward as "Ravishing."

I thought of him as "Disgusting Pig," "Obnoxious," "Selfish Brat"(3rd grade, when he wouldn't share his crayons with me.)

Definitely not ravishing.

I excused myself and went up to my room. When the door was closed, I leaned against it and shuddered. His green eyes bore it's way into my mind. I could see him when I looked up, sitting in my bed, standing near my closet. I thought of different things to get him out of my mind, and they worked, because I only saw Edward for about ten minutes.

I took a shower, and was walking out the door of my bathroom, toweling my hair off, when I saw Edward.

He was leaning against the wall next to my door with his thumbs in his belt loops, looking more like an underwear model than a normal guy, wearing baggy jeans, socks, and a white t-shirt.

"What are you doing here?" I asked cautiously.

He shrugged. "I was bored."

"And you decided to bother me?"

"Do you have anything planned?"

"...well, I was going to unpack..."

"Great!" he interrupted, "We'll unpack."

I shrugged. _Great, Bella. The body you've dreamed of since puberty is helping you unpack. One problem, though. IT'S THE WRONG FREAKING PERSON!!!_

"Okay." I said, "More time for me to help Em with the cows."

"Yeah." he said.

I grabbed one of my two suitcases and hauled it on the bed. This was the one that had my regular clothes. Like shirts and jeans and hats. The other one was for my underwear and bras...private stuff like that.

I unzipped the one on the bed.

"Okay, Edward," I said, turning around, "you can start with..."

I saw him unzipping my other suitcase on the floor. I immediately turned red and lunged myself at him.

"No!!" I yelled, and collapsed on top of him, toppling him over and shutting the suitcase.

He landed on his stomach, his head inches from the wall. He recovered quickly and pulled me off of him.

"What was that?" He asked, confused.

"That is the 'private suitcase.' It's full of stuff I'm gonna unpack when you leave my room."

"Okay. So, we're gonna start with the one on the bed?"

"And we're gonna end with that one."

"Great."

He got up, dusted himself off, and headed over to the bed.

Me?

I was still on the floor, recovering from the impact.

_This is NOT Edward. Edward would still be recovering with me right here. I would punch him, and then we'd be wrestling on the floor. I would win, of course. I need to talk to Alice. She'd know what's behind the body._

We finished unpacking in silence.

When I stuffed the suitcase in the closet, he asked me, "So, what do you think?"

"About what?"

"Everything?"

"You look like you've finally hit adolescence."

"Come on, really."

"Well, you've grown some. You're taller than me now."

"Great. So how's everything back in Miami?"

I groaned. "Don't ask."

"Why not?"

"Because I spent two years with my in-bred ex-boyfriend, broke up with him, and spent another two years chasing after a guy..."

I stopped.

His eyes had gotten eeriely dark.

"What happened?"

"Well, he ignored me and chased after someone else."

His eyes got considerably lighter.

"You're too good for him, you know."

"Well, I don't know about that."

"New subject, then."

"Okay, I think I should get ready for bed and that you should get out of my room before my mom gets suspicious and starts thinking that we're having sex."

"And that would be horrible, wouldn't it?"

The teasing sarcasm in his voice wasn't lost on me, and I shivered.

"You're cold, aren't you?"

"Uhh...yeah. I should get to bed."

"It's 80 degrees outside."

"Uhh...I'm not used to your air conditioning? Four years is a long time."

"It's never cold in Texas."

"Just get out!!"

"Okay."

He tipped his imaginary hat again. If only he knew how sexy that was for me...

"Good day, miss."

He winked and slipped out.

I sighed and fell back on my bed and curled into a ball.

_I wish I was nine again. _I thought. _It was so much easier to hate him back then..._

**So, readers, I have gotten so many good reviews telling me to update, so I did. Winter Break has it's advantages. Having siblings doesn't though. Review, dear readers, review!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: The Incredible Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. BUT I WANT IT!!!!!!!!! WAHH!!!!!!!!!!**

(Bella's POV)

When I woke up the next morning, I woke to Alice's bright eyes staring into mine.

"Great!! You're awake now!! Let's go!!" Her ever happy voice implied exclamation points after every independent clause.

I groaned, yawned, and turned over so I could sleep some more. She stood up and started shaking my shoulder.

"Bel-luh!! Come on!! We've got to get you awake so I can get you to breakfast and around town!!"

"Why? Don't I have to help Emmett with the cows?"

"We are going to go shopping!!"

I looked at my alarm clock.

It was 7:30 in the morning.

"Alice!! The mall doesn't even open now!!"

"I know, but by the time you get dressed and eat breakfast, it will be."

"JUST BARELY!!"

"Bel-luh!!"

"Oh, fine."

I rolled out of bed and landed on the floor, opening my eyes and seeing a set of ten perfectly manicured candy apple red toenails with black apples on them.

"New pedicure, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, manicure, too. I'll get you them, too if you go with me."

I dragged myself to my drawers and pulled out some clothes. I dumped them on the bed and yanked my shirt off.

Alice held up the bra I had chosen.

"Seriously, Bella. Cupcakes? How old are you? 13?"

"No, 17, but nobody's gonna see me in it, so it doesn't matter."

I grabbed it and hooked it on.

She just stood there and stared at me, tsk-ing her tongue.

"You're from Florida. I would've thought you'd have better taste in clothes."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a shirt out of the pile in the dresser. Wrinkly blue tanktop.

Alice critiqued me for a minute before grabbing me a pair of old, worn-out, jean capris.

She frowned. "Not stunning, but it'll do."

I plopped down on my bed and yanked my socks on. She ripped them off.

"SOCKS, Bella? In Texas? It's either cowboy boots or flip-flops." Without another word, she chucked some flip-flops at my face.

I sighed and put them on. It's easier not to argue with Alice.

When I was done, she grabbed my arm and dragged me down the stairs to the breakfast table.

I would've complained had Edward not been there. He sat in his seat, perfectly stunning in his black wife beater and shorts. Not bicycle shorts, manly shorts that go down to your knees. His hair was all wet and shiny and messy. I kinda almost drooled some more.

"Bella...?"

I shook my head clear of dirty thoughts and turned towards Emmett.

"What?"

"Geez, you're irritable in the morning. I was just gonna ask if you were gonna help me with the cows. I'm guessing Alice is going to take you to town, though."

I nodded glumly, my head so close to the table that I almost banged my head into my oatmeal.

Esme frowned at my current state and turned to Alice, saying, "Alice, honey, I don't think it's healthy for Bella to be up at such an early hour."

Alice scoffed and replied, "Mom, for one thing, it's only 6:00 in the morning, for another, she's going to get used to it."

I lifted my head and said, "ONLY 6:00 in the morning, Alice?!?!"

That's about as far as I got because I fell asleep on the table.

About an hour later, I woke up in my bed, confused and with smears of remains of drippy, sugary, milky oatmeal on my face. 'What a pleasant way to wake up.' I thought, sitting up and straightening my clothes. I left my room and went downstairs. 'Whoa, total deja vu!' I thought. I found Alice outside starting up her Pepto Bismol pink Jeep. I personally thought having a pink Jeep was weird, but I guess the whole Cullen family had gotten used to it.

"Ready to go, early bird?"

I rolled my eyes and dragged myself to the backseat to sleep some more.

"You know, after you passed out, Edward carried you to your room."

My heart beat faster, but I answered calmly, "So?"

"I just wanted you to know."

"Yeah, well," I said, laying my head on one of the pillows,"it's not important."

"He felt you up, girl! And you don't care?!?!"

"Well, he's your brother, and that's weird enough for you to be saying that and implying incestuism."

"I'm not implying incestuism. I'm just saying you got FELT UP!!"

"By YOUR brother. Now us discussing it is weird enough."

The rest of the trip to Dallas was filled with snores and Boys Like Girls blasting out every window and over the entire Texas region.

I didn't sleep the entire trip.

We finally got to Dallas about an hour later, and we immediately swerved to get to the mall before all the other Ford F150 trucks. 'Gee, that was fun.' I thought sarcastically as I peeled the side of my head off the window, struggling with my ear.

Alice bounced out of the Jeep and yanked me out of the backseat, to which I clung to for dear life.

We immediately headed straight for the Food Court, otherwise known as, I dragged Alice to the Food Court while she wanted to linger in some jewelry store, fawning over the diamonds she wished Jasper would get her, what Jasper already got her, and what Jasper gave his ex-girlfriends.

I got an Icee and allowed myself to be dragged everywhere, all the while I wished I could go back home and daydream about Edward, something I never would do back when Edward was a scrawny, geeky, little nerd.

**So...it's finally done. Yeah. So, give me your reviews cuz it's Spring Break and I have all the time in the world. Yeah, I wanna know about Edward's POV. Or do you just want Bella's? idk, so review and tell me. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so everyone wanted Edward's POV. I personally still wanted Bella's because that's how I like it, but majority rules. Enjoy!**

(Edward's POV)

After I dropped Bella in her bed when she fell asleep at breakfast, I gazed at her for a little while. Okay, maybe a long while. And maybe I felt her up a little while she was sleeping....

BUT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT!!

The point is that I wanted Bella to see the new me. I'm not the only one who noticed, and I think just about every girl in my freshman class noticed me that year. But I didn't go out with any of them.

Stinking Bella.

She haunted me every summer after 8th grade. Every word, every touch, every look.

It's all lodged in my brain.

Believe me, I've tried everything. From literally attempting to download it into my computer(Jasper's idea, never taking advice from him again), concussions(Emmett. Why did I listen to him?), etc.

She was the love of my life.

But I didn't know it then. I was in high school. I wasn't supposed to know my love. I just wanted her to be jealous of all the girls swarming to me like flies, and suck it.

But I ended up being the one jealous. I was sure she could see it in my eyes when she told me about her boyfriend and crush. "Jacob Black." Pssh. What kind of a dumb name is that? It's so redneck. "Edward Cullen" is more elegant.

I was vain like that.

When I saw her leave in Alice's pink Jeep, which I had always thought was weird, I mentally slapped myself for not inviting one of my friends over, preferably a girl. Jealous Bella was always funny. Dare I say cute? Especially in third grade, when I wanted to see her jealous side and, for once, wouldn't share my crayons.

She got so red she looked like a tomato.

Emmett came, threw me over his shoulder and dumped me in the stool beside Delia, our new cow.

I hated Delia.

She would kick, then she would bite, then she would aim for the areas that men shouldn't be aimed at.

I'm still not sure whether or not I'll be called "Daddy" anytime when I grow up.

I eventually forgot about Bella as I wrestled with Delia. I finally got some milk out of her and ran like crazy out of her stall before she could give me any more hospital-inducing bruises.

Stephan was walking out of the house. "Hey, Edward. Where's Bella?"

"She left with Alice. Why?"

"Because there are ants crawling around her room."

I shoved the milk at him.

"Take this inside."

I dashed up the stairs and opened her door.

No ants.

Ah, the sweet evil-ness of my second favorite Swan. Not that I would tell him that he was my second favorite. Then I heard footsteps.

Dashing behind her fluffy blue armchair in the back of the bedroom, I saw her enter, looking utterly tired. Shutting her door and locking it, I began to realize that we were the only ones in her room. And she didn't know it. Which made the situation even more _exciting._ I began to shift my legs to avoid the blood that was rushing to a certain area.

She walked over the drawer that was so dangerously close to where I was and picked out some underwear. It was so juvenile that I had to hold myself to keep from laughing. Then I stopped when I saw her strip.

Now I was the one prancing.

Prancing down the halls to my room with a hard-on.

I was never going to live through this vacation.

**Ah, the sweet smuttiness of stripping. Hope you liked!! Review review review!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AAHHHH!!!! I'm sorry...I promised myself I wouldn't make an author note, but due to a complaint about stereotyping Texans, I have to postpone the story until further notice. Actually, I haven't made an update in a while, and all of you are going to be clicking your alerts in anticipation, but I can't write anymore until I get a pm from mirandatwilight, so just wait, and I may or may not update, and may or may not delete this story, so just hold on while I fix this, okay?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, quite honestly, I've had a breakthrough, and I'm going to write this chapter whether mirandatwilighter101 says so or not. If she says no, then I guess this story is down the toilet...-sniff sniff- If this is it, this is a farewell chapter! and I'll start a different story. For now, READ ON, MY PETS!!!! sorry, that sort of popped in my head.**

(Edward's POV)

So, I was not extremely happy, when she didn't leave the room for about fifteen minutes. I turned around, not looking at her, and counted to ten.

When that extemely helpful piece of advice from Grandpa didn't work, I tried thinking.

_Gramma in a thong, Gramma in a thong, Gramma in a thong. BELLA in a thong, NO, WAIT!!! Gramma in a thong._

And it actually worked because I was so disgusted that I almost threw up. When Bella FINALLY, went to her bathroom, I tiptoed out, and dashed down the hall to my room.

"Eddie! How's life?"

Emmett.

"Seriously, man? This is NOT the right time. I know we're brothers, but I've got some work to do."

"Okay, okay. I just wanted to tell you, that in honor of the Swans' presence in our house, Alice has arranged for a pool party and..."

"POOL PARTY??????"

"Yeah, man. It'll be awesome. And you can finally ask Bella out or something."

I blushed profusely and covered the lower half of my face with my hand, rubbing my cheek.

"Uh, no. Bella's in her room changing and that would be really awkward considering I was just in there and..."

Emmett stared at me.

"Have you been taking your meds?"

I glared at him and walked off. Stalking off to my room, I kept a distance between me and Bella. Since Bella was the one using her magic on me, I decided I would mess with her head. Hey, I didn't get this new body for nothing...

(Bella's POV)

At dinner that night, Edward was shirtless. I would've laughed any other day, but today, Edward was _shirtless_. I mean, the abs and stuff was all _right there. _He was so beautiful, I could cry. But then, I would make a fool of myself like I always did, so I just stared every five minutes. I'm sure he noticed. He kept giving me these weird looks. Then he clasped his hands above his head and _stretched_.

_Blaaaaahhhhh......._Drool. Yum. I slurped it back in my mouth and kept my head down.

Awkward silence. Everyone was looking at me.

"What?"

"You...Are you okay?" asked Esme.

"Yeah, fine. Why?"

"You just kinda, fainted into your mashed potatoes, and then snorted yourself awake."

I said nothing, just wiped some mashed potatoes off my head.

"Excuse me."

I got out of the chair and went quietly off into my room to cry.

Alice came in after I had washed all the messy white stuff out of my head.

"Alice, what's with Edward's new body?"

"Yeah, that was a question I asked, too."

"That's not an answer."

"Yeah, well, it kinda started last time you came over. He worked himself over and over again trying to be one of those guys at the pool who just takes off his shirt and then, BOOM, abs."

"Last time..."

"Yeah, what _happened_ between you and Edward last time? It seemed really awkward."

"That's none of your business."

She raised her hands in defeat. "Don't get so snappy. I was just asking."

She yawned. "I'm going to bed. See ya."

I curled up on my bed. _Last time..._

I rolled over. Last time was awkward. Last time was...

_My first kiss..._

**Sorry for the wait. Likey or no likey?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright, since I have time now that I'm done with all that's supposedly "important," I'll update, to please all who are so obsessed with this story. **

(Bella's POV)

I fretted all night. Tossing.

Turning.

Kissing.

_I'm sitting with Edward in a treehouse that was taken down years ago. We're both young. We're laughing. I get out of the treehouse and show off for him to show that I'm so much buffer than he is. I sit. Suddenly, I fall. I was sitting on a dead branch, of course. What else would it be, with my luck?_

I've dreamed this so many times.

_Edward's arm reaches towards mine. Last thing I see is his face hurtling at 90 miles an hour towards mine._

_I wake up._

Shivering, I burrow deep in my covers.

Here's the thing.

All that was true. He kissed me.

Of course, we were young, so we went "Ewwww!," wiped our mouths, and turned away from each other, blushing.

But see, I wanted my first kiss to be with a buff, handsome Prince Charming.

Not some skinny wiseass who made fun of me and horded crayons.

He knew that.

I had told him in the treehouse.

We were discussing the perfect future.

Well, I was talking and he wasn't paying attention.

Maybe.

When you're young, everyone's the same. There's none of this "boyfriend-girlfriend" stuff you hear about. You can talk, play, eat, stretch with, bathe with, and walk with almost anyone the same age.

Equality until high school is what my mom calls it.

And, of course, when I see Edward's face hurtling towards mine at 90 miles an hour, there's no waking up.

It _hurt._

His face smashed into mine, and our lips met, and my head banged into the ground beneath me.

I thought he broke my leg.

But my first thought was: _Where's my Prince Charming?_

I guess fate wanted skinny, annoying Edward Cullen to be it.

Now he was.

So that was my story.

****

_Okay, morning. Today, let's not piss off Alice and let's show her how we could dress. _

I grinned, and opened my closet.

And got lost.

"ALICE!!!!!!!!"

She came running, pissed off.

Of course.

"Dress in this, this, why do you have this?, this, not that, and that."

No clue what she said.

MLIA. **For you people who don't know, go to my life is average dot com . Best site ever.**

Let's get dressed, shall we?

Breakfast. The war zone. Wipe wipe. No makeup. Who actually wears makeup to breakfast?

Besides Alice.

Besides _Alice?_

I mean, _really._

So, I got that shiny, red-faced look that is so popular with P.E teachers. Wonderful way to start the day.

Guess how Stephen's started?

Choking.

Because I looked so ridiculous.

I thought, _Seriously?_

Awkward breakfast silence.

More awkward silence.

More...

More...

"Umm...So, Bella, did you get those potatoes out of your hair?"

Obviously.

"Yeah, Dad."

"Edward," this was Carlisle now, "Why don't you go to town to get some groceries? Your mother's not feeling well."

Morning sickness???

Probably.

These people shoot babies out like machine gun bullets.

Maybe.

I didn't study Texas history. Us Florida people? We like to sunburn on the beach. Turning, red? Nothing. Peeling? No problem. Bleeding? You might want to use a little sunscreen and see the doctor.

I looked at Edward.

He looked at me.

We both looked away.

What was this? First day of kindergarten?

Kinda.

This was something that never happened before.

Usually, Edward and I would be chatting it up. Inseparable, even if we hated each other. Like Frenemies.

This was more like Stonewalling on both ends.

Good thing I paid attention in class.

"Bella? You haven't been here in a while. You wanna go with Edward?"

"Uhhh...why not? Sure."

I didn't dare look at Edward. I'd be tomato-faced 'till kingdom-come.

**Okay...well, that was chapter 7. I hope you liked it. I haven't been feeling very humorous lately, so if it's corny, ignore it. Stonewalling is derived from Stonewall Jackson in one of the American wars. I don't remember which, haha. Anyway, remember to review. It has its own button now...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry guys! I got writer's block for a REALLY long time and I didn't feel like posting chapters anymore. So I'll just start up again. And I'm going to Ohio soon so I'm not posting next week either. I'd love it if you still loved me and reviewed. Enjoy!**

(Bella's POV)

He looked at me.

I looked at him…

We both looked away.

Again.

The same thing happened in the car on the way there, and I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was definitely different.

As in, _things will NEVER be the same between us ever again._

Whoop-de-doo.

When I got in his car, he turned up the radio before either of us could say anything, which was good because I wasn't planning on saying anything and I could tell that he wasn't either, which made the ride to the store _that_ much more awkward than it needed to be. The thing is, I discovered that I really did like Edward, and I didn't want to see him get hurt and it took me a _really _long time to realize that, but now that I did, I felt really bad for hurting him all those times. Physically and emotionally.

_I'm glad _that's _over, _I thought sarcastically to the flying trees and grass. And squirrel. I looked over at him and looked at his hands. He was gripping the steering wheel too hard. His knuckles were pale white and I was almost afraid that he would park the car and turn into some sort of serial rapist and kill me before I had a chance to flip my brother off one more time.

I looked out the window again, nervously this time.

When we finally reached the store, Edward did something that I've never seen him do in my entire life. He reached over me to the glove compartment and grabbed his wallet. I'm serious! I never saw him do that! Ever!

But seriously though, he walked over to my side and opened the door to me like a knight in shining armour, causing and old lady to call over to us saying, "Oh, you kids are still as sweet as ever!" Which made me blush. Profusely. And Edward just laughed, like the wonderful human being he was, and I got out of the car before he could close it one my foot.

Silently as ever, we walked towards the store, the big "Wal-Mart" sign looming ever closer. I looked over at him, and started up the most boring conversation ever. "Um…so, what do you need?"

He looked at me.

"Whatever my mom needs from the store."

"And how would _you_ know what that was?"

He patted his breast pocket and I nodded.

More silence. We entered Wal-Mart, and people stared at us because _maybe we looked like a couple. _

I mentally slapped myself. I looked at him again, trying to bring up the subject of his delicious new body that I just wanted to bite and…

"So…uh, Edward, since when did you start working out?" I asked, trying not to sound _too_ ridiculous.

He paused at the marshmallows to grab a bag and look at the list.

"Since…maybe, I don't know. Two years ago?"

"Oh, umm…do you happen to remember what I told you when we were hanging out in that tree?"

"Something about Prince Charming, right?"

My heart twisted violently and I felt myself blush. _He remembered! Auuuuhhhhhhh…drool. _I touched my mouth to see if I actually was drooling and I wasn't so I put on an aloof air and continued.

"Did you happen to…I don't know, remember what happened after that?"

"Mm…I fell on you, right?"

"Oh, um…I wasn't talking about that…" I muttered.

He raised his head. "Were you talking about the...um, kiss?"

I nodded.

He looked back down. "That wasn't a kiss. That was me falling on you."

I looked at him, speechless.

"Wha-well, you could be less mean about that!"

"Did you want me to be honest or not?"

"I-! I...yes...I guess so."

My heart was a little broken, and I had no idea why. Maybe it's because he turned into this horrifying jerk, or maybe it's because I had no idea why I felt horrible, or maybe it's because I was officially...in love with him.

**Short? Yes, I know. I kinda have stuff going on right now. Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Oky doky, yello, folks! Yeah, well, whatever. I know this story is cheesy, and I know that it's going way too fast, but I really have no idea what to do with it, so here goes...**

(Bella's POV)

_Wait...love? No, that's crazy..._I really didn't know what to think anymore. Everything was crazy. Me being in love was crazy. Me being in love with Edward?

Now that's insane.

But the thing was, I could imagine my entire life with him. The rest of my life, going off to college with him, getting married, having twelve dozen children (that's 144, so maybe I'm exaggerating), seeing them all off to college, growing old together, growing senile, then heaven. Heaven could wait awhile until I got him to love me.

I looked up at him shyly. He didn't even look at me. _Edward hasn't had much girl experience, has he? Maybe I could like kiss him on the cheek or something and...what am I, a freshman? No way! _I shook my head of weird thoughts and continued processing random things.

(Edward's POV)

Bella was being really quiet. Like REALLY quiet. Like quieter than she normally was quiet. Like Alice had gotten into her head and eaten her brains quiet.

Freaky quiet.

It was making me uncomfortable.

So I tried looking as natural as possible, trying to pass Bella off as my sister to the other customers in the store.

Wasn't happening.

Not by a long shot.

I sighed as I checked off the last thing on my list, a bag of marshmallows. My mom was really craving marshmallows now. Strange as it was, I couldn't pass it off as pregnancy like she could. It seemed to me like menopause, and I don't want to be around when she figures out that it is.

That would be unpleasant.

I looked at Bella. She had gotten extremely...something in the past few years. I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Especially since I hadn't seen her since the...um, kiss.

When she had brought it up, I had been so embarrassed that I just wanted to deny what it really was and reject her like she rejected me.

But I was in love with her.

My siblings made me realize that.

All these years, I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to be Bella's Prince Charming without realizing it, and now that I was standing next to her in Walmart, I looked around at all the husband and wife couples that were walking around, arguing about whether or not to buy 80% cotton 20% spandex underwear or not, I realized that what I wanted was to be that type of couple. But not just with any girl, but with Bella. Even though we were only in high school, I knew I had fallen in love, and fallen hard.

I wanted to be the beer-belly husband on the couch shouting at football games, and I wanted Bella to be the wife yelling at me to clean myself up before going to work. I wanted to come home and kiss her on the cheek and tell her that the kids had drawn in my important paperwork again.

I wanted to come home to her.

And nothing in the world would ever change my mind of that.

But the problem was...I didn't know how she felt about me. I mean, Alice had given me hints about stuff like that, such as, when I walked in that first day, Bella was drooling, and whenever I'm in the room, she turns red like she just stopped breathing.

I didn't see anything like that.

But of course, Alice always tells me my head is even more full of cobwebs than Emmett's is.

Because he had the guts to ask out his crush on Valentine's Day in seventh grade.

And they went out for a month.

As we walked over to the counter together, I gathered enough courage to ask one question while I was piling things onto the conveyor belt.

"What are you doing tonight?"

(Bella's POV)

I was going over in my head anything that I said that might have pissed him off.

_That would be EVERYTHING_, _Bella._ So...okay, I might have wrestled with him and acted like a guy and he might have a grudge against me for beating him up in his earlier years, but does that give him any right to ignore me the entire time we've been shopping?

...I guess so.

So when he popped the all-so-important question at the conveyor belt, I looked over at the cashier to see if she had noticed. She didn't. She was probably around eighty, so I guess that's why.

"I...um..." _OMG, Bella! Hot guy asking you out? Of course you're saying yes! Whyever not? He's your total Prince Charming, he's your total other half!_ Okay, Valley Girl conscience? Freaking shut up.

"Um..." Memories flashed through my mind. All those fun times. But it's just a question, right? It's nothing, right? You don't imagine spending your life with him, right?

Wrong.

Dead wrong.

"Nothing...I guess. Why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I thought I'd ask."

...

...

Seriously? He put me through all that stress and sweat just to say "I don't know."?

I cracked my knuckles nervously.

_Okay, he's just baiting me. He wants to see how I'd react. Be cool. Pretend you don't care. Pretend that this isn't killing you second by second. Bait him instead. He'll ask. Just wait._

(Edward's POV)

_Hmm...she doesn't sound like she's doing nothing. Maybe she's just trying to be polite. I'll ask her in the car. _

Bella was fidgety when we were checking things out. Even I could notice that. And I don't usually notice a lot of things. It was cute, though. I liked it. _Maybe it has to do with asking her out. Maybe she WANTS me to ask her out. Keep baiting her. She'll get it. _

I didn't really like seeing her so fidgety. She looked like she had to pee really bad.

We took the bags to the car and threw them in the trunk. I got in the front and Bella rode shotgun.

Silence.

Ten minutes of silence.

I decided to pop the question since she was still getting fidgety.

"Alice, Emmett, and I are going with a few friends to a club this evening. We won't be back until tomorrow. You wanna come? It's not illegal for us since it's a club for minors and they won't have anything stronger than a Shirley Temple. Emmett just wants to introduce me to a few girls he met on his trip to London last year."

She was quiet for a while. I tried to put on an aloof air, even though I really wanted her to go. Nothing in the WORLD would ever stop me from wanting her to go with me.

"Hmm...well, if it's okay with my parents...yeah, I'll go. "

**Did you like it? I tried to write more, but I got writer's block again. Forgive me. And REVIEW! Press the button right...there.**


End file.
